


Trough the Crushing Void of Space

by katakoo



Series: The Chipped and the Broken [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Entrapta (She-Ra), Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra and Adora finally catch a break, Entrapta (She-Ra)-centric, Entrapta Being Entrapta (She-Ra), Entrapta is Bad at Feelings (She-Ra), F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Glimmer is a bit of an asshole, Honestly everyone needs a hug, Horde Prime's Ship (She-Ra), IN SPACE!, Lesbians in Space, Mind Control, New Planets, Soft Hordak (She-Ra), Spinnerella and Netossa being cute af
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28819527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katakoo/pseuds/katakoo
Summary: As the war is lost, Prime welcomes anyone who is willing to join him on his ship and the rest will be destroyed, along with their planet. Everyone else stays on Etheria while a certain purple-haired tech genius, a green reptilian who isn't known for choosing sides and a white-haired woman desperately needing her wife back agree. The ship will go to destroy one new and exciting planet after another while Entrapta tries to work out a way to free her friends from Prime's mind control and escape from his clutches.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra)
Series: The Chipped and the Broken [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112975
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. The Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> As you may have already noticed, this fic is the second part of a series. If you haven't read What If We Don't Survive yet (though I really recommend it, it's only around 11 000 words) or you've totally forgotten what it was about, here's a quick summary:  
> After Catra rescues her from Prime's ship in Corridors, Glimmer convinces Adora not to go back for her childhood friend. This results in Prime coming to Etheria and distracting Adora from the big battle by using Catra to lure her into a one-on-one fight. Adora gets really mad at Prime and tries to damage Catra's chip with her sword, but instead slashes open the back of her neck. They confess their love for one another as Catra bleeds out in her arms. Adora blames everything - the battle, Catra dying, Prime coming to Etheria - all on herself, sees no purpose for herself anymore and kills herself with her sword. Meanwhile, the Rebellion's as is totally being kicked by the Horde's army and the war is practically lost without She-Ra.  
> I'll try not to make this work as depressing as What If We Don't Survive, but we'll see if I succeed lol, I hope you enjoy reading this!

**Perfuma**

She’d lost track of time sitting on that cliff’s edge, watching the huge battle before her unfold. An unclear amount of time – maybe half an hour, maybe half a day – had passed since Perfuma went to check on the fighting couple in the Whispering Woods.

At least she hoped they were a couple. They fit so well with each other. Even she could see it, despite only having known Catra as the ultimate enemy of the Rebellion. She’d noticed how she reacted to encountering Adora. Her pupils would dilate a little, her tail would stop wagging around nervously and her aura would always briefly flash to a sensitive, loving, caring pink. She’d try to contain herself, push it down, make herself hate this girl she was trying to defeat, but it was no use. How she really felt would always bubble up to the surface, where anyone with even the slightest sense of feelings and behavior patterns could see it.

Even if it took Adora some time to figure out her emotions towards Catra, it hadn’t taken nearly as long for Perfuma. She would obsess over every single thing the cat girl was doing at any given moment. At the Tower, Adora had seemed almost dissappointed when Catra wasn’t there to defend it, and left Scorpia in charge instead. And there was no doubt that every single time she’d come back from a fight with her childhood best friend-turned-sworn enemy, there was longing radiating off her. Someone might think she was obsessed with defeating Catra, because she was evil and almost destroyed their entire reality with that little portal a little while back, but Perfuma knew what was really on her mind. And Catra wasn’t evil, she just didn’t know how to be any other way. She was raised to believe that she should never show weakness, and that love was weakness. But in reality, love was the strongest emotion you could have!

Yes, she really hoped they would’ve confessed their feelings for each other already. But they were doing it a little too slowly for her taste. _Come on, lovebirds, there’s a huge battle going on that one of you could stop immediately, whenever you’re ready!_

The raging sounds coming from the clearing beneath the cliff she and Entrapta were sitting on felt like they filled every corner of Etheria. The sounds of the clones’ lasers being activated, the loud crackling of electricity, great waves of water rushing down from every great lake and river of the planet’s surface, winds and tornadoes whooshing throughout the battleground. The sounds the Rebellion was making were totally drowned out by their opponent’s vast army, which spanned out as far as Perfuma could see. A whole sea – no, an ocean – of white, and a single small island of the bright colors her friends wore.

Honestly, the time Catra and Adora were taking was starting to worry her a little bit.

**Adora**

The first thing Adora noticed upon waking up was the absence of smells. She’d never remembered a place that didn’t smell like anything. The Fright Zone was filled with a stench of sweat, iron, and burning coal, Bright Moon Castle with floral perfumes and sweet fruits. Even the last place she remembered being, the clearing –

It all came rushing back to her. The blood – oh, there was so much blood, pooling at the back of Catra’s neck, gathering in her hands, soaking all their clothes, the back of the cat’s pristine, white bodysuit turning red…

The anguish that filled every crevice of her body, tears stinging her eyes, holding the lifeless body in her hands, checking for the thousandth time if she really wasn’t breathing, clutching her so hard she was afraid she might turn her bones to dust…

Wandering in the Woods, just wanting for the pain to go away, but it just didn’t, and feeling so guilty and hurt and anxious, wanting for all of it to just stop, for her life to end, because there was no point in it continuing, because everything was already lost –

She noticed her body was all rigid, all her muscles engaged, her eyes squeezed shut, her hands in fists, her nails already piercing through the skin on her palm, no doubt leaving little red half moon shapes on it. After much deliberation in her mind, she decided to open her eyes.

Her mind was filled with a bright white light. She was almost scared, like if she’d somehow gotten in Prime’s clutches after all. But no, it wasn’t his sterilized, piercing, surgical light. No, it was soft, pure, almost … angelic.

She began to take in the space she’d woken up in. She sat up on her bed, noting the emptiness of the space at her feet, where a certain bunkmate always used to sleep.

The room felt familiar, but it was somehow … different. It was her bedroom at the Bright Moon castle. The water of the fountain hummed lightly. The various knickknacks she kept on her shelf were there, too. The main difference was that it was all white. Her table, the floor, the drapes under her bed… which were also completely still. They didn’t sway with even the slightest hint of a breeze. Adora thought this was quite odd, since she always kept her window open while she stayed in the castle. She walked across the room to the window, through which she was supposed to see the edge of the Whispering Woods, but …

Her mouth flew open with surprise. It wasn’t the Woods outside her window, it was … nothing. The vast light blue sky. Clouds floated by her every now and then, but other than that, just the blue sky, spanning for miles and miles, as far as Adora’s eyes could see.

As she was walking back to her pristine, white bed, a little shaken by what awaited her outside her window, she glimpsed herself in the large mirror beside her closet. She had to do a double take, because that was definitely not what she looked like in that clearing.

Her hair was long and straight down her back, and on her forehead was a … crown? Headband? It was golden with a red, round stone in the middle of it. Her dress was white with some gold details at her waist and shoulders. She had a cape-like thing behind her back that cascaded down with the long, ethereal dress.

Suddenly, Adora felt sick to her stomach from all this white. It seemed so … wrong, so fake, and even if the light was soft and calming, it still made her think of Prime.

 _There is no_ us _anymore, Adora. Just me and Prime, and you, alone, in the darkness. If you come into the light, we could be together again._

Her world began to crumble right before her eyes. She swung open the closet door and shifted through the various dresses, pantsuits, shirts, jeans, even socks – all white. No other colors besides this damned, tainted, infected light. She rummaged through the closet, trying to find even a single little thing that wasn’t white, to feel even the tiniest bit of safety, chucking all the pure white, ethereal, long, angelic dresses down to the floor –

In her agony, she didn’t even hear the door open, or the quiet, barefooted steps that ran straight to her without another thought. She didn’t hear a clawed hand slamming the door shut to give them some privacy, didn’t see the heterochromatic eyes widen in shock and recognition when they saw her.

She only awakened from her frenzied state as a warm hand was placed on her shoulder, and a soft, slightly raspy voice, the one that always knew how to calm her down, whispered quietly in her ear: “Shhh, Adora. You’re safe. I’m here. No one’s going to hurt you.”

And she felt the relieved tears of the person standing next to her wet her shoulder as she pressed against her.

**Perfuma**

She was now bouncing her right leg slightly, nervous about the situation of her planet and everyone on it. She couldn’t even begin to think about what would happen if Adora failed to invoke her magic She-Ra powers and drive Prime off of Etheria.

“Entrapta, would you be okay alone here for a little while? I’m just gonna go check on Catra and Adora.”

“Sure, I’ve been alone my whole life! Well, not completely alone, I had my robots and my cooks and the voices in my head … “ Entrapta looked kind of puzzled for a moment, like she’d lost her train of thought. “So, yeah, I think I’ll manage!” She gave Perfuma a thumbs up with a lock of her hair as she was still focusing her eyes on her tracker pad, controlling the bots she’d built to help with the battle.

“All right, I’ll be back in a second!” She waved at her nerdy companion, even though she probably didn’t see it.

She was really hoping that she wouldn’t be intruding on a private moment, like a love confession. That would be pretty awkward. But if she were, she would just hide in the bushes and wait until it was over. But she really did need to get Adora on that battlefield.

She trekked through the Woods in the general direction she’d walked in the last time she went to check on the fight, but it seemed like Etheria didn’t want her to find them. It was taking her way longer to walk to their location now than when she’d seen that moment of tenderness, when Catra was able to break free from Prime’s grip just to be sucked back in again. The landscape kept shifting and Perfuma noticed she was walking in circles. That rock with an X on it that looked like it was carved by a sword or dagger must have shown up at least two times before. This wasn’t going to work out if she kept going on like a normal person without her awareness of nature. So, she sat down on the burnt, black grass and started to meditate to speak with the Whispering Woods.

She’d never been able to do that before, but she remembered her mother being able to manipulate the Woods’ shifting landscape at her will. She’d told her to just focus on the growing greenery around her and speak to it in a soft, non-commanding tone.

The plants around her weren’t growing nor green, and her magic was not the strongest with Prime poisoning the planet’s soil, but she believed that if the circumstances were dire enough, her magic would guide her.

She closed her eyes and pretended the Woods around her were green and healthy. She pictured the trees stretching higher towards the sun, the flowers blooming in all different colors, all the different animals walking, crawling, flying among the greenery.

 _The Whispering Woods, I ask of you to lead me to my friends,_ she prayed. _Etheria needs them and their powers. Otherwise, everything will be wiped out by a hateful force. Please, clear a path for me to the clearing where they fought. I need to find them._

She heard rustling and commotion around her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that a little dirt path had shown up before her.

 _Thank you_ , she whispered, and the trees rustled as if to whisper in answer. Perfuma walked along the little winding path, careful not to step on or damage any plants that were overflowing onto it.

She stepped into the clearing, elated from her powers working, just like her mother’s. _She’d be so proud_ , Perfuma sighed as she looked up to the sky as if to aknowledge her mother.

What she was in the field didn’t register to her mind at first. She saw Catra and Adora, laying on the grass, side-by-side, their hands almost touching. Something red coated the back of Catra’s white bodysuit, Adora’s hands, the spot where She-Ra’s sword stuck out of her …

As soon as she understood the horrifying nature of what she was seeing, she released a shrill scream that must have been heard throughout the whole planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School has been absolutely KICKING MY ASS recently (seriously, geometry, if I wanted to draw I would have taken art) and I've had no time to write. I literally just finished this chapter and am already posting it (might be a huge mistake, who knows). I'll really try to get at least one chapter a week out for you guys but we'll see how that works out. Tags will be updated as I've written more of the story. Also, I know the series title is really cringey, it's a work in progress, I'll probably change it later lol  
> Comments and kudos are really appreciated :) They would really help me with the stress I've been experiencing from school (mostly geometry, fuck geometry)


	2. The One Where Everybody Finds Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swift Wind goes feral and Adora and Catra finally catch a break, but Glimmer doesn't take the news about them very well.

**Bow**

He knew he couldn’t fight for much longer. Everything hurt – his wounds, muscles, even his bones – but one thing brought a lightness to his heart. And that thing was standing right next to him, hurtling magic blasts in the direction of the army that was slowly pressing in on the Rebellion from all sides.

She looked absolutely mesmerizing, even worn out by battle, glittering like a thousand stars in this dark void of a situation. Her hair, damp with sweat, clung to the back of her neck. Her cheeks were pink all over and glistening from the effort. Even though they had been fighting for what felt like forever, the determined fire in her eyes never went out for even a second. She was the queen of this planet, and she was ready to defend it with her life. Though Bow really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Suddenly, a loud noise behind him made him flinch. The loudness of the noise wasn’t what made it extraordinary, he was used to the booming sounds of war all around him by now. It was the nature of it. It didn’t belong here. It belonged to some pasture in Thaymor. It was… a spooked horse’s shriek?

He turned around to find out who let a horse into the middle of a battle for their home. Among his friends, he saw a caramel-colored steed with a warm brown mane. It looked frightened, standing up on its hind legs as if intending to gallop straight through the massive crowd of bots and clones in front of it. There was something deeply familiar about this horse, and while Bow couldn’t place it, Glimmer certainly could.

“Horsey?”

As if responding to her, the horse whinnied and started leaping away from them. There was a commotion all around it as it made its way through the Horde’s army. The Rebellion was left staring wordlessly as it disappeared behind the trees into the Whispering Woods.

Netossa was the first of them to break the stunned silence. “Is anybody gonna tell me what the fuck just happened?” She raised one eyebrow in confusion. “Who the hell is Horsey and where did Swift Wind go?”

Bow and Glimmer glanced at each other, but the moment was very rudely interrupted by a bot who sent a laser beam in between them, just inches away from Glimmer’s stomach. She immediately silenced it by sending a magic blast from her staff at it, but the other million members of the Horde army decided to start attacking as well. Bow reached for his bow and pulled out a lightning arrow.

“Well, Horsey’s the horse in Bright Moon whom Adora accidentally turned into Swift Wind while attempting to get a hold of her powers and transform for one of the first times in her life.” He placed the arrow into the bow, tugged on the string and aimed it at a clone.

“So, he just like, transformed back somehow? That doesn’t seem normal.” Netossa launched a net at her wife for the thousandth time to prevent her from hurting anyone.

“No, it certainly doesn’t.” Bow launched the arrow that sent an electric shock that passed down to at least three other bots. Four birds, one super-cool lightning arrow that Entrapta made for him.

“Should we be worried? About Adora, I mean. The effects of her magic don’t usually just disappear like that.” Frosta wondered. Wait, this doesn’t seem right. Who let the child on the battlefield?

Glimmer beat Bow to the question. “Frosta, since when are you not with Perfuma and Entrapta, not being reckless and hurting yourself?”

“Bold of you to assume I was with them in the first place. I’ve been here the whole time!” She shot a few ice daggers nonchalantly into some drones.

They all just collectively sighed. There was no convincing this kid to not risk her life along with everyone else, was there?

“Before you say anything, I’ve got my own kingdom, unlike some of you,” she glanced at Bow and Sea Hawk, “and I have just as much of a right to help!” She dropped to the blackened ground, touching it slightly with her fingers and freezing the soil the army stood on within a five meter radius. The Rebellion watched as the clones slipped and stumbled for a while before some of them fell over.

Just as Glimmer was ready to scold the thirteen-year-old some more, they all heard a crack in the earpieces Entrapta gave them to communicate with her in case of an emergency. The slightly static-y, nasal voice of the tech genius came through.

“Uhhh, guys… So, problem.”

**Catra**

She felt Adora’s tenseness dissipate little by little as she stroked her back and whispered softly into her ear. Nothing brought the brunette more comfort than seeing her… friend? Girlfriend? She wasn’t sure what to call the relationship between them, but she sure as hell didn’t expect to be seeing her again so soon. She knew she was dead, there was no mistaking the sticky, hot fluid pouring down the back of her neck in those final moments of consciousness, but it’d only been around an hour since she’d woken up in a room similar to this one. Did time work differently here? Did that white-and-green motherfucker destroy their planet that soon? Would they be reuniting with all their other friends in a couple of minutes? She wasn’t sure she’d be ready for that just yet. There were so many questions, so much confusion that Catra wanted to clear up. But not right now. Right now, she just needed to hold Adora for a little while.

As both their bodies relaxed, they’d slowly slid into a position laying on the soft rug in front of the closet, pieces of fabric in all different shades of white still messily scattered around them. Adora’s head fell on Catra’s chest, where she stroked her long, blonde hair absent-mindedly. It was let down this time, though a small hint of a dumb little hair poof still managed to stay on top of her head. Adora was curled up next to her, their legs intertwined in a way that felt extremely pure and intimate. Catra wished they could just stay that way forever. It was like the peace of an entire universe rested in her heart.

Adora groaned and stirred awake, pulling Catra from her own thoughts as well. She lifted her head and turned it a little to look into her heterochromatic eyes. “Hey, Catra.”

“Hey, Adora.” She chuckled a little and her mouth stretched into an involuntary grin. God, why was every little detail of her face so perfect? She found her gaze wandering from her small, cute smile to the blush in her cheeks, the captivating blue of her eyes and the upturned point of her nose.

She saw Adora look at the clothes thrown all over the floor. As if a switch flipped somewhere in her head, her face fell. She was, no doubt, reminded of whatever caused her to lose control like that. She calmly, almost robotically, stood up and began mechanically hanging up all her clothes again. Catra moved to help her. They stood like that for a minute or two, quietly picking up the bundles of fabric and clearing them away.

“Do you, by chance, have any clothes that aren’t white?”

Adora’s sudden voice almost made Catra jump. She mentally went through her closet that she’d looked into before heading out. It’d been all white suits, button-up shirts, jeans, a couple T-shirts, even a dress Catra knew she was never going to wear. But nothing of any other color that she could remember.

“I don’t think so. But we could look through my closet again. Why?”

“Oh, it’s not important,” the girl that stood next to her said in a small voice that told Catra that it definitely was important and that it made her little angel upset. She finished folding a pair of pants and went to hug Adora from behind, whispering: “It’s okay, you can tell me. What’s bothering you?”

“It’s just that it reminds me a little of… Prime. Of you in that bodysuit. In the clearing.” She kept her eyes trained on a jacked she was putting on a hanger.

Catra let out a quiet “oh”, when Adora hung up the jacket and turned to face her.

“But I don’t really want to think about that right now,” she continued with a soft smile and placed her lips on Catra’s.

**Glimmer**

After Entrapta’s transmission through the earpieces, the whole Rebellion stood, frozen, in shocked silence for what felt like the tenth time today. But this time was different. The realization was shadowed with a dark and heavy cloud of saddened haziness. Glimmer felt an ocean of tears fill her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hand and collapsed to her knees.

How could she really be gone? Just like that? Memories of Adora filled her head to the point where she thought it was going to explode. She remembered everything from the ride back to Etheria on Darla to screaming at the top of her lungs when she and Bow first met her. It was so long ago, but on the other hand, it had only felt like the blink of an eye. They hadn’t had nearly enough time together.

And to think that she had done that… to herself? She was always so responsible, so mature. She had a sense of duty. So why abandon them now? Just because Catra was dead? Was she really that important? So important that you could just leave all your other friends to die and your planet to be destroyed?

Because it was going to be destroyed. Without She-Ra, the Rebellion stood no chance against Prime’s massive army. They were just a bunch of teenagers! Well, except for Netossa and Entrapta. But still, with no She-Ra to save the day, they were doomed!

Glimmer’s assumption that she’d done the right thing by refusing to go back for Catra had strengthened monumentally. If Adora died for her now, what would stop her from killing them all? Or worse, giving herself over to Prime?

It was all Catra’s fault. Yes, that wretched bitch that stole her best friend away from her. Oh, if there’s an afterlife, that motherfucker better watch her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not stand by any of Glimmer's thoughts on Catra so don't come for me  
> Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I have exam week at school next week so pretty much all my time was spent studying. Also I had really bad writer's block on Glimmer's section cause I don't like her a lot.


	3. The Proposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a little look at some Spinnetossa backstory! Also, Big Brother learns about the Catradora news.

Netossa

Netossa finally looked up from having her face buried in her hands. She was sure her eyes were all red and puffy, her crying was quite aggressive. She wasn’t really focused on anything, or anyone, else while she was processing the devastating news. Adora was the greatest asset they’d had in defeating Prime and, by extension, getting their chipped friends back. God, she missed Spinny, even if she was just fighting her. She missed the closeness they’d had before. Honestly, she was grieving for Spinny just as much as she was for Adora. She knew that without She-Ra, she had virtually no shot at being with her again.

As for Catra, well… she kind of hated her for being the mastermind behind the Horde’s plans for the past few years and all that, but she could see how much Adora cared for her. And if Adora liked her so much, could she really be all that bad? She could relate to that feeling. The feeling of the entire world being against the person you love.

The first time she’d brought Spinny to meet her parents, they hadn’t exactly reacted in the way she’d hoped. They had other plans for her. They wanted her to marry a nice prince from some far-off kingdom, since none of the kingdoms close to hers had any princes. They wanted her to be a lady. To sit next to her husband in meetings and accompany him to parties. To hold his arm and stay in his castle, unharmed, when he went off to fight in wars. They wanted her to be a glorified housewife, an accessory to suit the face of a kingdom she knew nothing about. She’d thought she wanted to be those things too.

But then, she met Spinny.

It was at an official ball hosted by her parents. She was standing by them and greeting guests, shaking their hands. Curtsying. Smiling politely. Speaking only when spoken to. Wearing an incredibly poofy dress and a full face of makeup. Because that’s what ladies do. _No man is ever going to want you if you dress like that._ That’s what her mother had once said when she’d accidentally seen her trying on some fighting gear. She just wanted to try training, just this one time. To see if she even had any powers. It would make sense, she was a princess after all. But no. Her mother had told her to get changed at once. And then she just burned the gear right in front of her. The gear Netossa had spent weeks trying to sneak past her. That was the last time in months that she tried to go against her parents.

Spinny had caught her eye from dozens of feet away. There she was, in that skin-tight purplish pink gown that hugged her in just the right places. That sweetheart neckline that made her mind go to places it had never been before. They made eye contact, just for a split second, but it was enough for Netossa to feel the rhythm of her heart beating in her chest and the butterflies to wake from the inside of her corset. The stranger smiled softly, which made her face turn so hot she could feel her cheeks burning.

It was difficult to focus on the guests she was greeting from that point on. Her eyes were drawn to the woman like moths to a flame brighter than all the stars of the entire universe. She couldn’t look her guests in the eyes for long periods of time, though that didn’t really seem to bother them. She was just a princess, just an accessory to her all-powerful parents. They were glancing to the King and Queen already, just as hers were turning to the lady moving closer and closer to her in the line of guests.

She didn’t even know girls could feel like this toward other girls. All she ever saw were girls and boys. Girls and boys holding hands, girls and boys kissing, getting married, ruling kingdoms, sharing homes and children. Her mother always told her she would marry a prince and unite their two kingdoms. But she wasn’t sure she wanted that anymore.

She couldn’t remember ever feeling like this with a boy. Not even when her parents set her up to go on dates with some princes. They’d always drone on and on about something like politics or horseback riding or boasted about their numerous successes in battle. They knew full well that she wasn’t allowed to be interested in those topics. They knew they weren’t ladylike. And they still only talked about themselves and their interests. When she’d tried to get a word in, they either just interrupted her or took the conversation to a topic she understood even less about. At the end of the date, they would tell her how pretty and well-mannered she was and that they would love to make a union with her and have lots of beautiful children together. They praised her like they would a prize-winning dog, or a piece of furniture. It was never about loving her, it was about owning her. It was never about what she wanted.

When Spinnerella finally got to the front of the line to greet her, she dazzled her with the most mesmerizing smile – she never got over how real it looked in comparison to the whole rest of the ball – offered up her hand and actually said something to her, out loud:

“Hi. Netossa, I presume?”

She actually spoke to her. She’d shaken everyone’s hand in silence, since her mother said speaking out of turn isn’t well-mannered, and she didn’t actually process for a few seconds that she should respond now. She hesitated a little because she didn’t want this girl to think she was impolite. Though, maybe not answering would be more impolite. So, she made the decision to speak.

“Ummm. Hi. Hey. Yes, I am Netossa.” Great. That went, just, amazing. _Great job looking dignified, Netossa_. She took the hand the stranger in front of her was offering her and shook it. Firm, one shake. Good, at least she didn’t embarrass herself while shaking her hand.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Spinnerella, uh, princess Spinnerella, I’m a princess, too. Though I don’t have a kingdom. My ancestors did, though. That’s why I have powers… aaand I’m rambling.” She did a cute, shy little grin and chuckled, scratching the back of her neck. Netossa started to feel her cheeks blushing when her mother touched her arm to get her to hurry up. She wasn’t used to her daughter chatting with guests.

“No, no, it’s fine! We’ll, uh, talk later on, then?” She asked Spinnerella, though she really just wanted to talk now. And maybe do something a little more than talking…

Princess Spinnerella put her polite smile on, they exchanged curtsies and the line moved on. Netossa didn’t want to greet the rest of these guests anymore. She just wanted to find Spinnerella, laugh with her, tell her all about herself, spend the entire night with her. Something magnetic was pulling them towards each other, and it was taking every last bit of her energy to focus on looking all the guests in the eyes, smiling politely, curtsying, keeping her mouth shut.

Entrapta

Entrapta was back at her spot observing the battle that took place below her. She already resumed controlling her bots that were now occupied to keep the various Horde bots from intruding on her friends’ grief. She knew that being sad drastically reduced your productivity, especially in battle. She’d once done a scientific experiment on grief and, on average, the brain scans showed a 50% decrease in strategic thinking and an 80% decrease in the will to do any physical activity. On the other hand, the scans also showed a 20% increase in rage, and in another study she’d done, rage improved the participants’ physical strength by 5%. So, in conclusion, the Rebellion’s chances of winning decreased by around 75% by losing Adora. To calculate that from the starting odds of 40%, the Rebellion now had… a 10% chance of defeating Horde Prime. Yeah, not great at all.

She was doing calculations like these in her head to distract herself from all the horrible things happening. Because they were similar to the one just described, they didn’t do a great job at distracting her, and she kept on thinking more and more about their inevitable doom, and how that would affect the planet, the universe, everything! If Prime finds a way to somehow bring Adora back to life enough to deploy the Heart of Etheria and send a giant wave of destruction through space, that would have the power to obliterate their whole galaxy! She hadn’t had the time to study the other stars and planets they’d found themselves surrounded by when Glimmer took them out of Despondos, but she knew that their galaxy was very, very big. And to think about what she could’ve studied, the data she could’ve collected, if only things would turn out like they’re supposed to!

She suddenly noticed that her breathing was quicker than normal. Her heart rate was rising. She felt hotter than usual. She found herself not being able to focus on controlling her bots anymore. But they’ll destroy her friends! With the Rebellion’s 75% decrease in fighting prowess, this wave of bots could easily take them down if she didn’t protect them! But she just couldn’t bring herself to push the buttons necessary to keep her bots fighting the ones from the Horde. She just couldn’t, she couldn’t do anything! She didn’t even notice at what point she’d almost thrown her tracker pad on the hardened, black ground and started rocking back and forth, hugging her knees to her chest. They felt uncomfortable, they restricted her breathing, which made it even quicker, but she couldn’t let go.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Perfuma look over at her. She said something, but all the noise in her head drowned out her voice completely. Maybe she’d asked if she was okay. She should answer. She should tell Perfuma she’s fine, it’s just another meltdown. But she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth. They died down in her throat, she couldn’t get them out. The lump in her throat kept getting bigger from all the words that kept getting stuck there.

She knew in her mind that this was just another meltdown, it was just another thing that happens and that she needs to get over to be of use to her friends. _Get a hold of yourself_. She imagined her thoughts as a big, huge bot in her mind that she just needed to hack. That’s right, this was just a matter of getting a hold of that bot. It felt way easier that way than just imagining a big clump of emotions. She didn’t understand emotions. But bots, bots she understood.

Eventually, she could imagine writing code in her brain. The code needed to bring down the Emotion Bot. It included lines like

Cmd:CalmYourBreathing;

ItsGoingToBeOK;

HeartRate:Down;

Friends.exe:Here

Did she instantly feel better? No.

But did that calm her mind enough to be able to pick up her tracker pad again, though with great difficulty? Yes.

Did she somehow manage to push back the bots that were about to completely destroy her friends? Yes.

And that was enough, for now.

***

After a pretty uneventful while, something interesting at the edge of the battle caught Entrapta’s eye. It was the Spire, a Horde ship. It lit up. Then, a hologram of Prime appeared. She saw similar holograms on the Spires all around her. She wondered how much coding was necessary to pull off a technological feat like that. She wished she could take a look at all the different tech the Galactic Horde brought with it. Oh, it would be so fun!

The hologram began speaking. So did all the ones around her. Prime’s voice was booming into her ears from all sides. Did the Horde set some sort of speakers all over the planet? That would have been so wasteful! But it would explain the excellent sound quality. Anyway, this was what the hologram of Prime said:

“Rejoice, Etheria, for I will now bring peace to your pathetic, ungodly planet! Something great has been brought to my attention. Your beacon of hope, your hero, your… She-Ra, has been wiped off the face of this backwater planet!”

So, he knows Adora’s gone. That’s one more piece of information to consider. He will now be more confident in his ability to win, which will increase his productivity by at least 20%, which decreases the Rebellion’s chances to win by another 30%. They now have a 7% chance to defeat him. Talk about odds against us!

“I will now destroy this world. Consider this your two hour warning to say your goodbyes to the loved ones that you Etherians cherish co much. So much you’d be willing to die for them. So heroic, yet so idiotic, your She-Ra.

You do also have another option. Come to my ship, brothers and sisters, and join me in my conquest to bring peace to the universe! Those who give themselves up will be spared, and remade in my image. One cannot imagine a greater honor. So, join my forces, brothers and sisters, or you will be destroyed, along with your little world!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hello again! I just wanted to say that this is my first time writing from the POV of someone on the Autistic spectrum, and would really appreciate any feedback, positive or critical! Entrapta's going to be the main POV character in the rest of this story, so I really want to write her right.


	4. The One Where Catra Finds Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora have a talk.  
> TW: Adora describes her death

**Adora**

She finally pulled away from Catra and saw her cute little smile. It reminded her so much of those (relatively) carefree days in the Horde, when her biggest concern was acing that one training exercise they were going to do that afternoon. Of course, they never had anything to worry about, Adora being the top cadet and multiple officers’ favorite and Catra always slacking off until the very last second, usually dealing the finishing blow after not having broken a sweat. Catra’d always smiled that same smile at her whenever she saw Adora laughing at a joke she’d told, or offering her that last bite of her gray ration bar.

But they weren’t in the Horde anymore, and as much as Adora’s heart fills up with warmth at those memories, she was reminded that that wasn’t what childhood was supposed to be like. It was supposed to be practicing your magical abilities with your parents, or playing historian at their library. But that doesn’t make her happiness in those memories any less genuine or valid. It was all she knew. And she’d had everything she needed in those moments, though she didn’t realize it yet. And that everything was still sitting opposite her, her blue-and-yellow eyes staring into hers.

As if noticing that Adora zoned back in from her memories, Catra seemed to wake up from her daydream as well. Her eyes suddenly widened, and she pulled her face away from Adora’s. The apples of her cheeks blushed just a little, and her hand came up to scratch the back of her neck. She scooted further from Adora, now sitting on her butt instead of kneeling.

“So, I realise that my timing is, like, the worst in the entire world right now, but can I ask you something?” Catra mumbled, almost as if she didn’t want Adora to hear what she was saying. Her eyes were looking at the floor in between them, and her face was… sad? Guilty?

“Uh… yeah, sure, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to know… how did you… end up here? You seemed to show up here, like, right after me. Did… Prime…?”

“Oh…” Catra was right, her timing _was_ kind of awful. And here she thought they were just going to kiss and live (die?) happily ever after. Though, she understood that she needed to know.

“I mean, it’s totally fine if you’re not ready to answer, or if you’ll never be ready, I mean, these things can be hard to talk about –“

“No, no, I’ll tell you. You need to know.”

She took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out. She felt the panic rising up in her chest again, her heart beating faster, her thoughts getting muddy with the heartbreak she felt in the clearing. _Push it down. Be strong, for her._

“So, after you… passed, I was in a lot of pain. Not just physical, I’m sure you can imagine. I mean, it was me who… sent you here.” Adora hugged her knees and looked down at Catra’s hands in front of her. They grabbed a hold of Adora’s as if to say, _I’m here. You’re safe here._

“So, I wandered around the Woods for a little while, trying to get it out of my head. But it just wouldn’t stop. I just kept telling myself that it was all my fault.” Her cheeks felt wet. Was she crying? She didn’t even notice. The dress fabric around her knees started getting damp.

“And then, I saw the big battle, and how there was no way we could win. Even if I helped, defeating an army that huge was impossible. And it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for me. If I didn’t convince Bow to go to Beast Island and save Entrapta, Glimmer wouldn’t have launched the Heart of Etheria. We would still be in Despondos, and Prime wouldn’t have come here. If only I didn’t exist, all this wouldn’t have happened. It would be better if I was gone.” Catra came up behind her and put her arms around her. She felt her warm breath on her cheek.

“And then I came to the clearing again, and saw you, and… I couldn’t take it anymore. I took my sword, and… I…”

She crumbled. Collapsed. Broke down. She doubled over, her tears forming waterfalls on her face. And Catra stayed with her, held onto her, comforted her. She saw her eyes go wide as she realised what Adora had done. _That’s it_ , she thought. _She’s so disappointed in me. I couldn’t even pull myself together enough to help my friends. I just had to make it all about myself. I’m so selfish._

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the hero everyone needed me to be.”

Catra pulled her body closer to hers. They stayed like that for… who knows how long. Then, finally, she whispered in Adora’s ears:

“I never needed you to be a hero. You were always enough for me.”

Adora turned her head just enough to look into Catra’s heterochromatic eyes. They were soft, an expression meant only for her. Adora let out a quiet _huh?_ before she continued:

“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except Prime’s. You did everything you could, and now it’s over. You’re all right. I love you, just the way you are.”

Adora’s face involuntarily stretched into a lovestruck smile. Catra was perfect. She knew just the right things to say to make her feel better. Of course, she wasn’t completely healed, but right now, the weight she’d been carrying around her felt just a little lighter. Her body melted into Catra’s arms, and she felt like she could finally let everything go and experience this moment forever.

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!! Sorry about not updating recently. I've been diagnosed with ✨depression✨ and some things that I liked doing before, like writing, don't really bring me that happiness anymore and it's been hard to force myself to do things. I probably won't update as often as I used to in the future, too.
> 
> On a different note, I have an anime recommendation that absolutely BROKE ME and I want everyone else to experience the same pain. It's called SK8 the Infinity. It's short, it only has 9/12 episodes out so far. Please watch it.


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